November 14, 2024

A Spider Stellar Engine Could Move Binary Stars Halfway Across a Galaxy (Source: Phys.org)
Eventually, every stellar civilization will have to migrate to a different star. The habitable zone around all stars changes as they age. If long-lived technological civilizations are even plausible in our universe, migration will be necessary, eventually. Could Extraterrestrial Intelligences (ETIs) use stars themselves as stellar engines in their migrations?

In broad terms, a stellar engine uses a star to generate work. A simple example is solar panels, which use the sun's radiation to generate electricity that we use to perform work. But the scaled-up idea is to use the star to produce thrust. That thrust could be used to move the star itself. An ETI capable of doing that would be a Type II civilization on the Kardashev Scale. (11/13)

It Sounds Like NASA's Moon Rocket Might Be Getting Canceled (Source: Futurism)
NASA's plagued Space Launch System rocket, which is being developed to deliver the first astronauts to the Moon in over half a century, is on thin ice. According to Ars Technica senior space reporter Eric Berger's insider sources, there's an "at least 50-50" chance that the rocket "will be canceled." "Not Block 1B. Not Block 2," he added, referring to the variant that was used during NASA's uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022 and a more powerful design with a much higher translunar injection payload capacity, respectively. "All of it." (11/13)

The Man Picked as Defense Secretary Wants to Purge the Pentagon (Source: The Economist)
Four years ago Pete Hegseth, a telegenic Fox News host and major in the Minnesota national guard, was told that he would be deployed to guard Washington DC, during the inauguration of Joe Biden. The order was revoked, he recalls, when superiors pointed to his prominent tattoos: a Jerusalem cross on his chest and the words “Deus Vult” on his arm, both symbols of the Crusades but now associated with neo-Nazis. “I joined the army to fight extremists in 2001,” he recalled on an episode of Shawn Ryan’s podcast, published on November 7th. “Twenty years later that same army labelled me one.” (11/13)

DoD’s Big Bet on 1 Hour Space Cargo Delivery (Source: Payload)
If the last decade marked a revolution in sending mass to space, the next decade will center on bringing mass back to Earth. Major players in the industry, including SpaceX, Varda, Blue Origin, Stoke, Outpost, Inversion Space, and Sierra Space, view reentry as a critical next advancement in space tech capability. The DoD agrees.

What was once a far-out idea, space-based cargo delivery is now seen as a viable reality for the DoD over the next few years. The capability could allow the Pentagon to transport cargo to any location on Earth in under two hours. In 2024, the DoD emphasized funding reentry and point-to-point transportation, awarding four sizable reentry contracts in the past four months. There are two buckets of cargo delivery capabilities: Orbital cargo drop delivery and point-to-point. (11/13)

New Missile Factory Coming to James City County Valued at $12 Billion (Source: WTKR)
A Norwegian multinational company will soon manufacture missiles for the Navy in James City County. On Wednesday, the U.S. Navy awarded 'Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace' a multi-year procurement contract for the delivery of Naval Strike Missile (NSM) missiles to the Navy and Fleet Marine Force.

Kongsberg recently announced the building of a new $12 billion missile factory in Virginia, creating more than 180 jobs. Officials say the missile factory will provide additional production capacity, sustainment and in-country tech refresh capabilities for Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM). (11/13)

NASA Stennis a Leading Hub for Commercial Aerospace Collaboration (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's work has been pivotal in propelling commercial spaceflight, with NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, serving as a launch point for numerous aerospace endeavors. As the nation's largest propulsion test site, Stennis is recognized for collaborating with aerospace companies to meet their diverse testing needs and aims to expand its commercial partnerships even further. Central to Stennis' offerings is the E Test Complex, equipped with four stands and 12 test cells that support a range of propulsion tests. The E-1 Test Stand with four cells and the E-3 Test Stand with two cells are operated by NASA, while Relativity Space leases the E-2 and E-4 stands for its operations. (11/14)

NASA Stennis Maintains Vital Role in Space Propulsion Testing (Source: Space Daily)
Workers who established NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, likely did not foresee the legacy they were building - one of resilience and enduring impact. Braving mosquitoes, snakes, hurricanes, and the intense heat of southern Mississippi, early crews set the tone for a culture defined by adaptability. That spirit persists at NASA Stennis, now celebrating over 60 years of propulsion testing that underpins U.S. space exploration.

The center's test infrastructure, built over the last five decades, has supported an array of NASA and commercial missions. The Fred Haise (formerly A-1 Test Stand), A-2, and Thad Cochran (B-1/B-2) stands were originally constructed in the 1960s for Saturn V rocket stage tests supporting the Apollo missions. While the Fred Haise and A-2 were single-position stands, the Thad Cochran stand was capable of housing two Saturn V first stages at B-1 and B-2, though only B-2 was used during Apollo. (11/14)

NORR and Fire Arrow Join Forces for Sustainable Spaceport Projects (Source: Space Daily)
The rising demand for space-based insights to bolster industries, environmental efforts, security, and global communities has fueled nations' interest in building their own launch capabilities. Fire Arrow, headquartered in Scotland with international operations, is advancing its efforts to meet this demand by facilitating the development of licensed global launch sites.

The company specializes in guiding clients through technical and business assessments and the complete lifecycle of spaceport projects, from feasibility to design, construction, and licensed operations. Partnering with prominent organizations, Fire Arrow has formed a consortium model that supports governments and commercial entities in achieving secure and economical space access. The company recently marked progress by signing an Expression of Interest with Malaysia's Gading Group for an Asian horizontal spaceport project. (11/14)

Northrop Grumman Expansion on Space Coast Wins Unanimous Approval (Source: Florida Today)
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman secured approval to build an expansion complex for about 1,200 employees that features a single-story, 50-foot-tall high bay at Melbourne Orlando International Airport. Located just north of NASA Boulevard's 90-degree curve near Northrop Grumman's campus, this 37.7-acre industrially zoned area extends eastward from Satcom Direct's airport facility.

Tuesday night, the Melbourne City Council unanimously approved a site plan for the campus expansion — which bears the secretive code name Project Daisy in agenda documents. Little discussion occurred, and few details have been publicly released.

Blue Origin Stacks Huge New Glenn Rocket Ahead of 1st Launch (Source: Space.com)
Blue Origin's massive new rocket is getting closer to being ready to fly. The company's New Glenn rocket was joined together for the first time in the company's facility on the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. New Glenn is expected to make its maiden flight sometime in November, taking off from Launch Complex 36. The flight will carry one of the company's new Blue Ring spacecraft on a National Security Space Launch certification flight known as DarkSky-1 and sponsored by the Defense Innovation Unit. (11/14)

Rocket Lab Plans Third Launch for Kineis IoT Satellite Constellation (Source: Space Daily)
Rocket Lab has confirmed its next Electron rocket launch for Kineis, a global Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity leader. Named "Ice AIS Baby," the mission is set to launch during a 14-day window starting November 23rd NZDT from Rocket Lab's exclusive Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. This will be the third in a series of five Electron missions contracted by Kineis to deploy a full constellation of 25 IoT satellites. Rocket Lab successfully launched the first two missions in June and September 2024. (11/13)

New Model Estimates Odds of Intelligent Life Across Universes (Source: Space Daily)
A fresh theoretical model developed by astrophysicists at Durham University offers a method to assess the likelihood of intelligent life appearing in our Universe, as well as in possible alternate universes. This concept builds on the legacy of the famous Drake Equation, devised in the 1960s by Dr. Frank Drake to estimate the number of detectable extraterrestrial civilizations within the Milky Way.

The recent model diverges by concentrating on how the expansion of the Universe and star formation rates affect the emergence of life. The expansion is influenced by dark energy, an enigmatic force accounting for more than two-thirds of the Universe's makeup. The model operates under the premise that stars are essential for life to exist as understood. Therefore, it estimates the probability of intelligent life arising based on the density of dark energy and the fraction of ordinary matter converted into stars over the Universe's history.

One significant finding of this study is that typical observers in other universes would expect to encounter a greater density of dark energy than what exists in our own Universe. This suggests our Universe, with its unique balance of dark energy, might be less typical when compared to other potential universes. Predictive outcomes indicate that the most efficient star-forming universe would convert about 27 percent of its ordinary matter into stars, compared to our Universe's 23 percent. This implies that our Universe does not possess the optimal dark energy density for fostering life. (11/13)

Sidus Space Announces Pricing of Public Offering (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 5,600,000 shares of its Class A common stock. Each share is being sold at a public offering price of $1.25 per share for gross proceeds of $7.0 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. (11/13)

Spire Selling Ship Tracking Unit to Belgium's Kpler (Source: Space News)
Spire Global is selling its commercial ship-tracking business to a Belgian company to pay off debt. Spire said Wednesday that Kpler, an analytics company, will pay $241 million to take over Spire's maritime customer contracts and get exclusive rights to sell ship-tracking data from the operator's satellites to commercial entities and governments worldwide. Spire would retain its satellites, technology and other infrastructure following the transaction, which includes $7.5 million for services over 12 months, as well as its current maritime customers in the U.S. government.

The proceeds would help Spire Global pay off all its outstanding debt, which is about $100 million. Spire will focus on near-term growth opportunities across its weather, aviation, radio frequency geolocation and space services markets. Spire is also continuing to review its accounting practices and procedures surrounding the timing of bookings under its space services business, which has delayed quarterly filings with the SEC. (11/14)

Disagreement on Cause of ISS Air Leak (Source: Space News)
NASA and Roscosmos don't agree on the cause and severity of an air leak in a Russian module on the International Space Station. According to statements at an advisory committee Wednesday, NASA and Roscosmos have yet to agree on the root cause of the small but persistent air leak in a vestibule in the Zvezda service module that separates a cargo spacecraft docking port from the rest of the module.

That vestibule is closed off when crews don't need to access the docking port. Roscosmos doesn't believe the leak poses a risk of "catastrophic disintegration" of the vestibule, but NASA remains concerned about its structural integrity. At a briefing last week, a NASA astronaut said that when the vestibule is opened, astronauts close a hatch separating the Russian and U.S. segments as a precaution. (11/14)

Starfish Space Raises $29 Million for Satellite Servicing (Source: Space News)
Satellite servicing company Starfish Space has raised $29 million. The company announced the funding round Wednesday, led by Shield Capital with participation by several other existing and new investors. The completion of the new round brings Starfish's total funding to date to more than $50 million. The funding will allow the company to complete development of its first three Otter servicing vehicles, which will perform missions for Intelsat, the U.S. Space Force and NASA. (11/14)

Rocket Lab Signs Commercial Customer for Neutron Launches (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab has signed up the first customer for its Neutron launch vehicle. The company announced this week it signed a contract with an undisclosed "commercial satellite constellation operator" for two Neutron launches in mid-2026 and 2027, adding that the deal could expand to cover that customer's entire constellation. Rocket Lab said it is continuing to work towards a mid-2025 first launch of Neutron with a gradual ramp-up of launches in 2026 and beyond. Rocket Lab added that it is not selling initial Neutron launches at a discount, and that the value of this contract is "in family" with previous statements that estimated a price of $50-55 million for a Neutron launch. (11/14)

Kratos Wins $116 Million SDA Contract for Missile Defense Satellite Ground Infrastructure (Source: Space News)
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions won a contract from the Space Development Agency (SDA) for a ground system to support missile-defense satellites. The five-year contract, valued at $116.7 million, is part of a program intended to establish a central, cloud-based command hub for missile-tracking satellite systems. Kratos will build the ground infrastructure to facilitate the coordination of real-time data across a constellation of missile-tracking satellites. (11/14)

A More "Offensive" Space Force Possible Under Trump (Source: Space News)
The incoming Trump administration may seek to create a more "offensive" Space Force. Recommendations in Project 2025, a policy package developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation, include a call for the Space Force to adopt "offensive" strategies, emphasizing the need for America to demonstrate stronger deterrence capabilities in space.

Project 2025 advocates for the Space Force to develop capabilities that would ensure not only the protection but also the "deterrence" of threats, citing the need for U.S. assets that can outmaneuver and counter adversarial technologies in space. Although Trump has not endorsed the full breadth of Project 2025, many proposals echo his first-term policies and campaign rhetoric, leading analysts to anticipate that the incoming president may incorporate parts of it in his administration's approach. (11/14)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Missions From California and Florida (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX launched a pair of Falcon 9 rockets carrying Starlink satellites. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:23 a.m. Eastern Thursday, placing 20 Starlink satellites into orbit. Thirteen of the satellites have direct-to-cell payloads. A second Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 8:21 a.m. Eastern, carrying 24 Starlink satellites. (11/14)

China Launches Ocean Science Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched an ocean science satellite Wednesday. A Long March 4B lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 5:42 p.m. Eastern and placed the Haiyang 4-01 satellite into orbit. The satellite is designed to measure ocean salinity and support improved maritime forecasting. (11/14)

Boeing Repairs Power Systems on O3b mPower Satellites (Source: Space News)
Boeing has completed the first O3b mPower satellites with repaired power systems. Boeing said Wednesday it shipped two satellites from its California factory to Florida, where they will launch on a Falcon 9 in December. SES announced in August 2023 that electrical issues were sporadically tripping off power modules on in-orbit O3b mPower satellites after deploying the first four spacecraft in the Boeing-built constellation, an issue that reduces the satellites' capacity and lifetime.

SES went ahead with launching two more satellites despite those problems so it could begin commercial service for the mPower system, but delayed others to correct the issue. To achieve the constellation's original performance expectations, Boeing is building two more satellites beyond its initial 11-satellite O3b mPower contract. (11/14)

GITAI Raises $15.5 Million for Space Robotics (Source: Space News)
Space robotics company GITAI has raised $15.5 million. The latest funding, announced Wednesday, came in a round led by a venture capital firm run by Japanese billionaire and commercial astronaut Yusaku Maezawa, and brings the total raised by the company to $83 million. The company, which was founded in Japan but relocated its headquarters to the United States in 2023 to seek U.S. commercial and government business, will use the funding for space robotics technologies currently being tested on the ISS as well as for two test satellites, one scheduled for launch in December and another in October 2025. (11/14)

Denmark Joins Artemis Accords (Source: Space News)
Denmark is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords. The country's science minister signed the Accords Wednesday in an event in Copenhagen. Denmark is the 48th country to sign the Accords and the fifth to do so since the beginning of October. The Artemis Accords outline best practices in safe and sustainable space exploration. (11/14)

Pakistani Rover Included on China's Chang'e-8 Lunar Mission (Source: The Express Tribune)
Pakistan will fly a lunar rover on a Chinese lander mission. Pakistan's space agency SUPARCO announced Wednesday that it will develop a 35-kilogram rover that will be flown to the moon on the Chang'e-8 mission in 2028. The rover will carry unspecified "state-of-the-art scientific instruments" to study the region around the landing site in the south polar region of the moon. (11/14)